Why context matters for educational policy - analysing interactive practice in the governance of Education for Sustainable Development in Germany

The implementation of global educational policies such as Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) entails different national strategies despite its international character. In Germany, the transfer of ESD is characterized by a multi-actor process including representatives from academia, administration, civil society organisations (CSOs), and educational practice – coordinated by the national state. On the basis of five focus group discussions, we examined how the individual actors coordinated their actions in this process. The results show that the communicative interactions of multi-actor processes mirror the specificity of the education sectors’ structures and dynamics. In our analysis, we thus conclude that ESD governance is more than a question of national and regional structures: we argue that an understanding of the structures and cultures of the involved educational areas can contribute to a differentiated knowledge for future ESD policies. (DIPF/Orig.)Die Umsetzung globaler bildungspolitischer Programme wie Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung (BNE) unterscheidet sich im Vergleich nationaler Strategien. In Deutschland ist der Transfer von BNE durch einen staatlich koordinierten Multiakteursprozess mit Beteiligung von Verwaltungsvertreter/-innen, zivilgesellschaftlichen und bildungspraktischen Akteur/-innen, Wissenschaftler/-innen etc. gekennzeichnet. Basierend auf fünf Fokusgruppendiskussionen wurde die Handlungskoordination dieser Akteur/-innen untersucht. Die Ergebnisse zeigten, dass die interaktive Praxis der Akteur/-innen, die den Umsetzungsprozess von Policy Prozessen beeinflusst, stark durch bildungsbereichsspezifische Strukturen und Dynamiken geprägt ist. In unserer Analyse kommen wir so zu dem Schluss, dass BNE-Governance mehr ist als eine Frage nationaler oder regionaler Strukturen: Es ist vielmehr ein Verständnis der Strukturen und Kulturen der einzelnen Bildungsbereiche, die ein Wissen für zukünftige Policy-Strategien der BNE-Verankerung beisteuern kann. (DIPF/Orig.

Learning in Real-World Laboratories : A Systematic Impulse for Discussion

Real-world laboratories (RwLs) are a form of transdisciplinary research that facilitates learning processes as part of its transformative objectives. Nevertheless, little conceptual effort has been put into the understanding, planning, and evaluation of the learning dimension of RwL work. This paper applies a systematic approach from the discourse on education for sustainable development (ESD) to differentiate three perspectives on the various learning processes occurring in RwLs and exemplifies them with experiences from the RwL Urban Transition Lab 131 in Karlsruhe

Emotions and transformative learning for sustainability: a systematic review

As multiple global sustainability crises are getting more severe and existential, a better understanding of how people undergo deep personal transformations related to sustainability is needed. In the educational debate on sustainability learning, transformative learning theories are widely used. To analyze specific phases of transformative learning, we derived five meta-phases from the literature (novel experience, reflection, social exchange, shift of action, shift of meaning). Although human emotions often arise during the confrontation with sustainability issues and are central to moral action, no substantial, theorized understanding of the role of emotions within sustainability-related transformative learning exists to date. We conducted a systematic review (following the PRISMA guidelines) and screened 355 publications to close this research gap. After applying the exclusion criteria, the in-depth analysis of 20 studies showed that sound theoretical references to theories of emotion and transformative learning are rare. The review shows clearly that diverse emotions permeate sustainability-related transformative learning processes. Among these are both negative emotions to novel learning experiences concerning sustainability (e.g., sadness, shame, disgust, guilt) as well as positive emotions in the context of social exchange (e.g., awe, gratitude, fun) and associated with newly formed actions (e.g., fulfillment, pride). Accordingly, to enable emotionally positive learning experiences, relationship and action orientation are particularly important within sustainability learning. The analyzed studies call for an educational practice where emotions can be experienced, expressed, and understood in a safe atmosphere. Future research in this area should use more stable theoretical foundations for emotions and transformative learning theory and apply methods that can capture deeper levels of subjective experience

The self in the mirror: fostering researchers’ reflexivity in transdisciplinary and transformative studies at the science-policy interface

Reflexivity is a key expectation that researchers in transdisciplinary and transformative research for sustainable development need to meet. Its aim is to enable researchers to deal with normativity, to contribute to identifying and balancing different actors’ interests in processes of knowledge production, and to strengthen a pluralistic view of implicit assumptions. When designing and realizing transdisciplinary and transformative studies, researchers face a central question: How can we develop reflexive practices and live up to the demands of such work? Considering the important role that reflexivity plays in transdisciplinary approaches, it is surprising that only few approaches have explored the specific characteristics of reflexive practices empirically and analyzed how these practices are cultivated when doing transdisciplinary and transformative research. In this article we address this research gap by presenting and discussing a case in which researchers attempted to professionalize their reflexive practices at the science-policy interface (SPI). As part of the national Monitoring of Education for Sustainable Development in Germany, we used the method of collaborative autoethnography to systematically reflect on our own thinking and actions as researchers at the SPI over a period of 11 months. Based on an analysis of 66 situations in which we took field notes, we synthesized core topics of reflection and challenges encountered throughout the process (roles, relationship patterns, and normativity) in six collaborative interpretation sessions and analyzed them to understand our own practices of engagement within the field. Grounded in this analysis of our own selves as researchers looking in the mirror, we develop hypotheses about how our specific methodological approach helped us on a practical level to foster different kinds of reflexivity. With this two-fold approach, we aim to contribute to a better understanding of possible topics, challenges, and pathways of (increased) reflexivity among researchers working at the SPI

Pledge for a transformative science : a conceptual framework

"Transformative science" is a concept that delineates the new role of science for knowledge societies in the age of reflexive modernity. The paper develops the program of a transformative science, which goes beyond observing and analyzing societal transformations, but rather takes an active role in initiating and catalyzing change processes. The aim of transformative science is to achieve a deeper understanding of ongoing transformations and increased societal capacity for reflexivity with regard to these fundamental change processes. The concept of transformative science is grounded in an experimental paradigm, which has implications for (1) research, (2) education and learning, and (3) institutional structures and change in the science system. The article develops the theoretical foundations of the concept of transformative science and spells out the concrete implications in these three dimensions

Transformative Forschung als Motor für die Gestaltung von Systemübergängen

Die „große Transformation“ hat eine lange unterschätzte innovations- und wissenschaftspolitische Dimension. Diese Dimension hat im Wissenschaftsjahr 2012 erheblich an Kontur gewonnen

Pledge for a transformative science: a conceptual framework

"Transformative science" is a concept that delineates the new role of science for knowledge societies in the age of reflexive modernity. The paper develops the program of a transformative science, which goes beyond observing and analyzing societal transformations, but rather takes an active role in initiating and catalyzing change processes. The aim of transformative science is to achieve a deeper understanding of ongoing transformations and increased societal capacity for reflexivity with regard to these fundamental change processes. The concept of transformative science is grounded in an experimental paradigm, which has implications for (1) research, (2) education and learning, and (3) institutional structures and change in the science system. The article develops the theoretical foundations of the concept of transformative science and spells out the concrete implications in these three dimensions

On the goals of education for sustainable development and the status of implementation in the German school system

Der Artikel zeichnet zunächst die Diskussion zu Nachhaltigkeit und Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung (BNE) nach und skizziert ausgewählte kontroverse Diskussionen zu Zielstellungen von BNE. Im Anschluss geht der Beitrag auf die Verankerung von BNE im deutschen Schulsystem ein. Zur Strukturierung der Erkenntnisse werden die drei Ebenen von Input, Prozess und Output/Outcome aus dem Bildungsmonitoring genutzt. Abschließend werden vier Ideen für die Weiterentwicklung von BNE in der Schul- und Unterrichtspraxis formuliert. (DIPF/Orig.)The article first traces the current discussion on sustainability and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and outlines selected controversial discussions on ESD objectives. Subsequently, the article looks at the anchoring of ESD in the German school system. The three levels of input, process and output/outcome from education monitoring are used to structure the findings. Finally, four ideas on the further development of ESD in school and classroom practice are formulated. (DIPF/Orig.